NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted.
Unclassified.
| FRIVACY MARKING
DRAFT LETTER
To:-
P. W. Carey, Esq.,
Ministry of Technology, 1, Victoria Street,
S.W. 1.
Type 1 +
From
Mr. Wilford
Telephone No. & Ext.
Department
.In Confidence
1As you
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I am very sorry to have to raise once again the question of Hong Kong's imports into the United Kingdom of wide sheeting and sheets on which you exchanged letters with John Moreton a year ago. I do so because in our attempt to work out more satisfac-
tory arrangements for the conduct of our relations with Hong Kong on the textiles front generally we shall have to deal with the outstanding difference of opinion between Hong Kong and ourselves over the question of growth in our imports of wide sheeting and sheets.
Fortunately, this has become an academic issue
in that Hong Kong's export performance in 1969 in the
sheeting categories did not entitle them to more than
one percent growth in 1970 under the provisions of the Heads of Agreement. The Heads of Agreement will expire at the end of this year and we shall presumably have to consider suitable arrangements for the interim
year between the ending of the agreement and the beginning of the tariff. I assume, however, that these arrangements will be worked out in the light of the situation in our own textile industry and having regard to the level of imports from Hong Kong into the United Kingdom in recent years and to our policy towards other countries from whom we import cotton
textiles.
2. In all the circumstances I should be grateful if you would be good enough to look at this "growth" problem again, against the background of our relations
generally with Hong Kong. I am convinced that many
of our difficulties with Hong Kong in recent years have stemmed from the belief in Hong Kong that we are not
Bare interested in the affairs of the Colony. anything we can do therefore, to reassure Hong Kong that we are,
/ in fact
(118281) Dd. 391599
1,500M 2/69 Hw.